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Thousands of Winnipeggers had vehicles towed for violating the city’s winter parking ban in a massive increase in enforcement this winter, according to city data.
According to numbers from the city, 4,888 vehicles were towed between Nov. 26 and March 1.
That’s up from two vehicles that were towed for violating the parking ban throughout the previous winter.
The increase in tows comes after the city made changes to its annual snow route parking ban this winter, moving to a more flexible format that can see the ban start earlier and end later, depending on the weather.
Previously, the annual ban was put into place from Dec. 1 to the last day of February.
“The new Annual Winter Route Parking Ban is more responsive and can come into effect anytime between November 1 and April 30, based on forecasted weather, snow clearing and ice control requirements,” City spokesperson Adam Campbell said in an email to Global News.
“The towing effort on winter routes has been increased this winter to support a more effective and efficient snow clearing and ice control program city-wide, and to enhance public education about the ban in order to achieve higher compliance when the ban is in effect.”
As well as tows, the city says there were 9,128 annual winter route parking ban tickets issues between the end of November and March 1.
That’s up from 8,952 tickets issued during the 2020-2021 winter season, according to the city’s data.
The city says during the 202-2021 winter season 7,775 annual snow route parking ban tickets were issued and 18 vehicles were towed.
Under the new winter parking ban rules, parking is prohibited on designated streets between 2 a.m. and 7 a.m. daily, when in effect.
The city has said it will give seven days’ notice before the ban comes into effect, which means word of an impending ban could come as early as Oct. 24.
The new rules mean the ban will be lifted in the spring when it is no longer needed operationally, though it can remain in place until the end of April if required.
Winnipeggers can find out if the winter route parking ban applies to a specific location by checking the city’s online address lookup tool, the Know Your Zone mobile app, the interactive Winter Route map, or by contacting 311.
–With files from Global’s Gabrielle Marchand
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.